At some point in your life you will probably have accidentally stepped in dog poo while walking somewhere - and if you haven't you've probably spotted it left on the street, in or out of a bag.
Knowing how annoying it can be to see faeces left in the street, ditching poop bags might seem utterly counterintuitive to many. With bags often marketed as biodegradable, it can be hard to understand why anyone would want to get rid of them.
The Mirror spoke to Carina Evans, a dog owner who is urging others to scrap their use of all plastic bags for the environment, especially if you live in the countryside.
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With her "Flick A Poo" campaign, Carina wants to encourage owners who walk their dogs away from urban areas to think about the impact that bag is having on the environment.
At Crufts 2023 she told The Mirror: "I’m launching the campaign to shame people that think the habit of leaving poo in a plastic bag dotted around the countryside on branches, gates and fences that belong to other people is okay. Simply put, it’s not okay."
Instead, the mum is suggesting dog owners push their dog's left-behinds into the shrubbery and overgrowth rather than picking it up in a plastic bag.
"It's not necessarily [about eradicating poo bags], I don't see the need for them but I don't live in a town, I live in the countryside," she added. "I get plastic bags and I get the need for them in a town or urban area."
She explained: "What I'm trying to say is Flick A Poo because why in the countryside are we not just flicking it into hedgerows and under hedges, away from the footpath? What I see all the time, is plastic bags hung on branches and leaves and gate posts.
"Why go to the trouble of bending down and picking up s**t and then putting it in a plastic bag to then leave it for us who live in the countryside."
Those who take the bags with them to be put in a bin are not the problem, it's the people who leave bags believing they'll biodegrade that are damaging the countryside.
"As somebody that’s grown up in the countryside on a farm in Dorset I very much take responsibility to protect our countryside," Carina added. "I have a keen interest on ensuring it’s kept beautiful, clean and pollution free for everybody, including myself and my family."
Brands that are biodegradable usually need around three to six months to do so, but if they are hung from branches or on manmade gate posts they will not do so. Even if they are on the ground, this is still half a year that your dog's poo might be sat as an eyesore on country walks.
Ditching the bag and using a leaf or stick to flick the poo out of the pathway can accelerate this process and is much healthier for the environment.
Carina is hoping organisations like the Woodland Trust, Countryside Alliance, or National Trust might "jump on board and join the fight against needless waste and plastic bags marring our beautiful countryside"
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